Work, family and other life pressures affect all of us at times, leading to troubling feelings of stress and anxiety.

Left alone, these thoughts can become a significant problem and make people unwell.

Ahead of World Mental Health Day 2017 on Tuesday (October 10) The News spoke to Dan Regan, an Ely-based hypnotherapist who specialises in stress and anxiety management, for his advice on how people can look after their mental well-being.

The problem of anxiety

Dan says: "It’s estimated that there are over 8 million cases of anxiety in the UK each year, with research suggesting that women are twice as likely as men to struggle with anxiety.

"And if you struggle with anxiety then you will know how debilitating and overwhelming it can be, whether is from a form of generalised anxiety or in relation to specific people, places, situations or events.

"Anxiety can fill you with an endless stream of thoughts and feelings that create dread, worry and fear. You may feel on edge, tense, unwell and have difficulty concentrating or thinking clearly. It can cause you to avoid certain situations and can have an impact on your work, social life and relationships.

"It is common for people to have difficulty getting to, or staying asleep, as if your mind just can’t relax and switch off from all those worries. Physical symptoms can include dizziness, palpitations, shaking, sweating and feeling sick.

"And whilst you may or may not know what led to the anxiety, all of those unwanted thoughts and feelings can create an ongoing cycle of feeling anxious about feeling anxious.

"If you are struggling with anxiety then do these seven things to start interrupting that cycle and easing those thoughts and feelings right now."

Anxiety also affect people's physical health (Image: Mind)

7 tips to help you end your struggle with anxiety

1. Get help if you need it

Trying to face anxiety alone can be tough. You may find it helpful to talk to someone who you trust and who will be supportive. It can be hard to find a way to break out of that pattern of anxious worries and feelings without help and guidance, so consider seeking professional help, whether that is from your GP or from an anxiety specialist.

2. Get moving

The physical symptoms of anxiety are your body getting ready to take action: that is, to be ready to fight or to run away and escape from a threat. Your breathing gets quicker, your heart beats faster and you get hotter as if you are warming up and about to exercise.

It’s important to respond to that signal to move by getting out and doing something active. You could choose to do a brisk 10-minute walk (make a point of walking tall and looking up and around you) or you could do some other form of exercise that you enjoy and that gives you time off from anxious thoughts and makes you feel good from having done it.

3. Use your breathing

When you feel anxious your breathing rate gets faster and shallower as your body prepares itself to take action. You may notice yourself feeling more on edge and tense. If you control your breathing you control how you feel, so use your biological relaxation response by starting to make your out breath longer.

To do this effectively, you can hold your breath for five seconds first and then breathe out to a count of eleven. Then breathe in for an internal count of seven. Keep repeating this 7/11 pattern for a minute or so and you will have to become more relaxed. Be sure to practice it regularly so that it is familiar if and when you need to use it.

Leading Ely hypnotherapist Dan Regan

4. Interrupt unwanted thoughts

Anxiety leads you to think about everything that can and could go wrong. You mind is filled with all those worrying imagined worst-case scenarios, 'catastrophising' thoughts and negative possibilities.

There are many ways to interrupt those habitual anxious thoughts. One of my favourites is, when you find yourself imagining unhelpful things, immediately start counting backwards from 300 in threes in your head. Not only does this interrupt that chain of thought, it also gets the thinking part of your brain working harder and calms the emotions down.

Another way you can start diluting those thoughts is by challenging them. For example, how likely is it that this scenario would actually happen? What else might happen? Is anxiety just making it up in your head? What would be an OK outcome that could happen? What would be a good thing that could happen? By recognising that the worst case is not the only possible outcome you start to dilute the hold of anxiety-driven thinking.

5. Also focus on what is going right

Everyday can have its up and downs, its highlights and lowlights and perhaps many other moments that are neutral or neither good nor bad. Anxiety leads us to focus more and more on all the worries, dreads and negative aspects of our life and as a result we feel more and more drained and stuck.

So make a deliberate effort to also focus on things that you consider to be more positive or which make you feel at least a bit better when you think about them. Every night think of three things that went well that day or that were better moments. It doesn’t matter how big or small they were or how long or short in duration: just take a few minutes to think back on these better moments. As you get better at this, start extending it to think of three things you are looking forward to the next day too.

6. Cut down on caffeine

Caffeine is a stimulant and can lead to increased feelings of being on edge and jittery. If you have a lot of caffeine start gradually reducing it over time to make sure it is not contributing to how you feel. And be sure to limit your smoking and alcohol volumes too.

7. Learning how to relax

Having anxiety is like having a totally stressed out brain that leaves you struggling to think clearly. It’s a bit like having a computer with a full memory and trying to run several programmes at once. An anxious brain struggles to concentrate, focus or think clearly.

It’s common for someone with anxiety to say that they never relax or struggle to switch off. Yet we all have the capability to feel and be more mentally calm and more physically relaxed, even if that means you need to consistently practice until you get better at it. You don’t have to do it unaided as there are dozens of free meditations, mindfulness and hypnosis audios available in just a few clicks (you could start with the one on my website).

If you have been affected by the issues in this article or are experiencing mental health difficulties you can call the Samaritans free at any time, from any phone on 116 123.